Archive for April, 2008
Ben Stein’s Blunder
Ben Stein’s Blunder
In a new documentary film — Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed — the actor, game show host and financial columnist Ben Stein falls for the pseudoscience of Intelligent Design
by Michael Shermer
In 1974 I matriculated at Pepperdine University as a born-again Christian who rejected Darwinism and evolutionary theory, not because I knew anything about […]
Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats
FORT RILEY, Kan. — When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp Speicher in Iraq, he was excited, he said, to see an officer attending.
But minutes into the talk, the officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, began to berate Specialist Hall and another soldier about atheism, Specialist Hall wrote […]
Christianism In The Military - Andrew Sullivan
One of the darkest developments of many dark developments in the Bush years has been the slow ascent of Christianism as a core value of the military. The promotion of Christianists throughout the armed services, the insistence by the president that no public institution be regarded as a place where religion should be silent, clear […]
28Apr2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Investigation to begin into allegations against teacher
The fax stated, “We are religious people, but we were offended when Mr. Freshwater burned a cross onto the arm of our child. This was done in science class in December 2007, where an electric shock machine was used to burn our child. The burn was severe enough that our child awoke that night with […]
28Apr2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Judge Orders La. School District to Stop Bible Giveaways
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge ordered a public school system to stop allowing in-school Bible giveaways, saying the practice violates the First Amendment separation of church and state.
“Distribution of Bibles is a religious activity without a secular purpose” and amounts to school board promotion of Christianity, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier […]
Connecticut Woman Says She Stole Hundreds of Paintings to Prepare for Apocalypse
WATERBURY, Conn. — A 53-year-old Waterbury woman has pleaded guilty to stealing more than 150 paintings reportedly after God told her the end of the world is near.
Diane Catalani was arrested last year. According to court documents, Catalani told a psychologist that she hoarded what she stole to show God before the Apocalypse that […]
Re-booting Humanism
Modern Humanism Has Become Outdated; Humanists Need a New Humanism Today
“Many people fear nothing more terribly than to take a position which stands out sharply and clearly from the prevailing opinion. The tendency of most is to adopt a view that is so ambiguous that it will include everything, and so popular that it will […]
A Breeze of Eastern Epistemology: Knowing What Exists
Point 1
What exists?
Does yesterday exist now?
Does tomorrow exist now?
Of course, not.
Our thoughts of yesterday may exist now if we are now thinking of yesterday.
Our thoughts of tomorrow may exist now if we are now thinking of tomorrow.
But neither yesterday nor tomorrow exists.
What about the moment a second ago when you started reading this blog? What […]
What would a Clinton Presidency be like? by Carl Bernstein
[…] In A Woman in Charge, I wrote about her ability to evolve, observable especially in the years before she met Bill Clinton and in the Senate: to learn from her mistakes. Events have proven me wrong on that count.
The 2008 Clinton campaign, in fact, has been an exercise in devolution, back to the […]
No Child Left Inside Initiative
Our children are less connected to the natural world than at any other time in
history. The implications of this, particularly for their physical and mental health, are immense.
People have limited contact with natural environments.
This is likely due to a complex mix of factors, including changes in the physical and social environments as well […]
Ben Stein: Front Man for Creationism’s Manufactroversy
Biblical creationism, repositioned as creation science and most recently intelligent design has lost the contest of ideas on all counts: the rules, the criteria and the judging. It doesn’t follow the scientific method; it doesn’t allow us to explain, predict, and control better; and the jury of relevant experts (aka biologists) keeps returning the same […]
12Apr2008 | Admin | 0 comments | Continued
Is the Problem Religion or Human Nature?
The ‘new’ atheism is precisely not a form of fundamentalism, Bryson Brown argues; IN RESPONSE: It’s not religion that’s the problem, it’s our capacity for evil, Chris Hedges says
Blame it on 9/11 and Osama bin Laden. Or blame it on George W. Bush, Karl Rove and Christian apocalyptic fundamentalism. Or perhaps credit them with unleashing […]
Bush Unlikely to Boycott China Olympics
WASHINGTON — For President Bush, it would seem a small gesture to make a big point: Staying away from the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics would send a clear signal of U.S. anger over China’s crackdown against anti-Beijing Tibetan protesters.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend the […]
Does Barack Obama Believe in Separation of Church and State?
By Austin Cline, About.com
Barack Obama does not appear to believe in a strict separation of church an state, which is a shame because opposition to church/state separation is a keystone in the Christian Right’s assault on modernity and the Enlightenment. Barack Obama does not come out to openly deny that church and state should be […]
Richardson says pressure from Clinton camp ‘really ticked me off’
ANTA FE, N.M. — Before he endorsed Barack Obama, before he drew the wrath of the Clintons and was likened to Judas, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson nearly endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.
But Richardson hesitated, and as the Democratic campaign turned ugly, he grew angry.
There was that “3 a.m.” TV ad, in which Clinton […]
Scientists discover black holes on the Internet
Messages throughout the world are constantly lost to cyber black holes
You’re pounding the keyboard, double-clicking away, sighing and grumbling, but to no avail: That devilish little hourglass icon refuses to give way to the Web site you’re trying to reach. Most Internet users have encountered trouble reaching online destinations, but they often attribute the problem […]
Austrians Debate Last Supper Orgy Art That Sparked Furor
VIENNA, Austria — Is it art — or is it blasphemy?
Austrians are locked in a nationwide debate touched off by the brief display in a prestigious Roman Catholic museum of an etching that depicts Jesus Christ and his disciples having an orgy during the biblical Last Supper.
A chastened and chagrined Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, the […]
World’s Worst Religious Leaders
When the Pope visits the United States next week, he will likely make the case that religion is a force for peace in the world. But a few of his fellow religious leaders are better known for preaching messages of hatred and violence.
See the 5 worst…
Number of Computer Viruses Exceeds 1 Million
The number of viruses, worms and trojans in circulation has topped the one million mark.
The new high for malicious programs was revealed by security firm Symantec in the latest edition of its bi-annual Internet Security Threat Report.
The vast majority of these programs have been created in the last twelve months, said Symantec.
Cyber criminals […]
Dalai Lama arrives in U.S. to lead compassion conference
SEATTLE, Washington (AP) — The Dalai Lama arrived in the United States on Thursday for the first time since the recent turmoil in Tibet, serenaded by fellow Tibetans as he prepared to anchor an ambitious conference on compassion.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader came here a day after demonstrators disrupted the Olympic torch run in San […]
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